Usually we love 9-1-1. Our reviews of the show over the last several years have been positive, but this week’s episode really wasn’t our favorite. We didn’t hate “Performance Anxiety”, but we didn’t love it. We kind of thought it was boring especially compared to last week. But there were some interesting moments in this episode so it’s start with those.
Annual Evaluations
It was time for Bobby’s annual team evaulations this week, and it seemed like everyone was dreading them. Not because of their performance, but because Bobby always wants them to critque him. And no one really knows what to say. Buck did call him out on being too soft on evaluating him, but that was about all the feedback he got.
Even though Bobby went easy on Buck’s evaulation, he decided that Chim was too comfortable and needed to brush up on his leadership skills. This turned out to be a win for everyone. Chim realized he’s a great leader and he showed that at the firefighter academy. And he was able to bring Ravi back to the 118, which Chim figured out what Bobby’s plan from the beginning. It looks like Ravi will be a permanent member of the 118 and we’re excited. It’ll be nice to have him back.
We’re glad that Bobby had the courage to send Chim to the academy. He was right – Chim had become too comfortable and needed to be challenged. It seems like Bobby is a pretty great leader, and his team would like for him to stop asking him what he could be doing better.
Eddie Dates and Maddie Sings
Okay, we would try to come up with a more creative title than this one, but that’s pretty much what happened on “Perforance Anxiety”. Eddie was set up with a nice woman by Pepa, but he didn’t want to be set up. He goes on the date prepared to let her down gently, but she beats him to it. It turns out, she didn’t want to be set up either.
We didn’t really see the point of this story. We do want Eddie to meet someone and fall in love again because he deserves that, but this wasn’t a good story. He just seemed upset that she dumped him first. Hopefully, we’ll have more positive stories about Eddie and his love life in the future.
While Eddie was dating/figuring out his life, Maddie was busy at the call center. When a young man calls because he’s having an anxiety attack, Maddie helps calm him down by singing. And don’t get us wrong: Jennifer Love Hewitt has a wonderful voice, but it felt kind of random. But it worked and she calmed the guy down. And we have to give Maddie credit for trying something unusual. Maybe we should try singing at work; it may make things more interesting.
Employee Safety
There were other rescues this week, but none of them seemed to take too long. The first one was probably the most interesting. It involved a boss at a bakery being more concerned about making food fast instead of caring about the safety of her employees. She tries to demonstrate why she’s right, but things take a horrible turn as she gets trapped. When the 118 pulls her out of the mess, her arm is completely shredded and she will probably lose it.
Don’t get us wrong, we’re not happy this woman is going to lose her arm. But she kind of brought this on herself. She didn’t want to follow the safety guidelines and because of that, she got hurt.
The other big rescue in “Performance Anxiety” involved a body builder competition. The guy that won was doing it to impress his dad, and it turned out his dad was pretty much a fake. His dad used some sort of synthetic oil to increase muscle mass. The irony is the son didn’t even care about body building, and if he had known his dad had used this oil, he probably wouldn’t have spent so much time trying to win the competition.
Meeting Nathaniel
We want to leave this review on a positive note. We’re really glad that Hen decided not to put on a show for Nathaniel. Hen is amazing just the way she is and she doesn’t need to do anything to impress Nathaniel. We also liked that we had some Athena and Hen bonding time this week. We always love when they’re together. Having a friend where you can be honest is the best.
9-1-1 airs Mondays at 9/8c on Fox.
